Powership
Encyclopedia
A powership, or power ship, is a special purpose marine vessel, on which a power plant is installed to serve as a power generation resource. Converted from existing bulk carrier
s, the powerships are self propelled, ready to go infrastructure for developing countries
that plug into national grids where required. They can be equipped with single or multiple gas turbine
s, reciprocating diesel and gas engines
, boilers or nuclear reactors for electricity generation. Bureau Veritas
, an international certification
agency with experience in overseeing both shipbuilding and power plant development, classifies such floating power plants as "special service power plants".
Unmotorised powerships, known as power barges, are simply conventional power plants installed on a deck barge
. These are sometimes called "floating power plants" or "barge mounted power plants". They were initially developed during World War II
by General Electric
for the War Production Board
as a transportable large scale power generation resource.
At one time the US Navy used its submarines when disaster hit a local community bring down the commercial power grid, this led to the idea of powerships for the US Navy, and an early US Navy powership was the , a former US Navy naval ship. Saranac was a 1942 built fleet oiler before her conversion into a powership following the Second World War
to serve in the US Navy and Army. In 1957, she was sold to Hugo Neu Corporation of New York City and was used then as a power facility abroad by the International Steel and Metal Corporation. In 1959, she was renamed Somerset.
The first floating nuclear reactor ship was the MH-1A
, in the Panama canal zone.
Powerships offer a number of advantages over other forms of power plants; due to their mobility, powerships can be connected to local power grids to temporarily cover demands whenever on site power plants are insufficient or the building of new power plants will take time, while dual-fuel engines on board can be powered by either liquid fuels or gas. The powership is able to use any infrastructure available at the site on which she is required.
s and electric switchboard
s.
It is expected that a powership will moor at one place for an average duration of three to five years. For this reason, powerships are an ideal solution to bridge the gap for a certain time until a local power plant is built or the high demand in electricity supply is over.
Karadeniz Powership Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Karadeniz Energy Group based in Turkey
, developed and carries out a project named "Power of Friendship" that aims to provide a total of 2,010 MW of electricity to more than ten shortage-stricken countries in the Middle East
, northern Africa and southern Asia with ten different ships by the end of 2010. The first powership of the project, which can supply 144 MW power, went into service at the beginning of 2010 off the shore near Basra
in south-eastern Iraq
, and the second powership is on its to the same place. The company signed also a contract with Pakistan
.
s of constructing and operating power barges are very competitive with their land-based equivalents.
The deck barge will tend to exhibit thermal growth during the diurnal cycles and possible out-of-trim conditions referred to as hogging and sagging caused by changes in ballast or fuel.
The power island design requires certain deflection limitations at the generator coupling and vibration dampening from start-up or out-of-phase operations, as well as significant trip loads mostly in the generator section. The power barge systems engineer must integrate power island engineering with naval architecture and marine engineering.
, Westinghouse
, Wärtsilä
, and MAN; by developers such as Smith Cogeneration, AES
, GMR Vasavi, US Generation, which operate floating power plants for customers located in New York City
(USA), Khulna
(Bangladesh
), the Dominican Republic
, Effassu (Ghana
), as well as in the Philippines
, Jamaica
, Kenya
, and Malaysia. Engineering, procurement and construction companies such as Karadeniz Energy, Power Barge Corporation, Waller Marine Inc, Hyundai
, IHI Corporation and Mitsui
offer gas turbine power barge construction programs, and Karadeniz Energy, MAN and Wärtsilä offer medium speed engine power barges.
Today there are over 75 power barges deployed and operating around the world. The utilization rate of power barges is around 95% with only one or two power barges available in the global market at any one time.
New power barge projects range from RWE
's recently announced foray into gas turbine peaker power barges to Karadeniz Energy's medium speed diesel engine power barge program for Iraq and Pakistan. Karadeniz Energy has delivered over 675 MW of power barges and power ships and builds the largest power barges/ships in the world.
In April 2011, Waller Marine finalized installation in Venezuela of two large floating power generation barges into a prepared basin at Tacoa. The two 171 MW barges, each supporting a GE 7FA dual fuel industrial gas turbine, will be connected to the grid and soon supply much needed power to Caracas.
As of July 4th 2011, Karadeniz Energy has over 400 MW of power barges/ship under construction with deliveries offered within 90 to 120 days from contract placement.
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
s, the powerships are self propelled, ready to go infrastructure for developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
that plug into national grids where required. They can be equipped with single or multiple gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
s, reciprocating diesel and gas engines
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, boilers or nuclear reactors for electricity generation. Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas S.A. is a multinational company providing conformity assessment, certification and consulting services to industry, government and individuals. Originally formed in Antwerp in 1828 as Bureau de Renseignements pour les Assurances Maritimes , the Bureau Veritas name was adopted in 1829...
, an international certification
Certification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
agency with experience in overseeing both shipbuilding and power plant development, classifies such floating power plants as "special service power plants".
Unmotorised powerships, known as power barges, are simply conventional power plants installed on a deck barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
. These are sometimes called "floating power plants" or "barge mounted power plants". They were initially developed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
for the War Production Board
War Production Board
The War Production Board was established as a government agency on January 16, 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt.The purpose of the board was to regulate the production and allocation of materials and fuel during World War II in the United States...
as a transportable large scale power generation resource.
History
One of the earliest (if not the first) powership built was in 1931, the SS Jacona built by the Newport News, Virginia Shipyard and Drydock Company, for the New England Public Service Company of Augusta, Maine. The idea came to the president of the Augusta firm, when one winter a severe winter storm took out a lot of the New England major power transmission lines. The Jacona role would be to dock as near as possible to the affected area and hook into the local power grid restoring power. During the Summer months the Jacona would hook into vacation area power grids where power needs are extremely low during off season and extremely high during the Summer vacation season. The Jacona was fitted with steam boilers which drove two generators which could produce 100,000 kw each.At one time the US Navy used its submarines when disaster hit a local community bring down the commercial power grid, this led to the idea of powerships for the US Navy, and an early US Navy powership was the , a former US Navy naval ship. Saranac was a 1942 built fleet oiler before her conversion into a powership following the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to serve in the US Navy and Army. In 1957, she was sold to Hugo Neu Corporation of New York City and was used then as a power facility abroad by the International Steel and Metal Corporation. In 1959, she was renamed Somerset.
The first floating nuclear reactor ship was the MH-1A
MH-1A
thumb|right|300pxMH-1A was a pressurized water reactor and the first floating nuclear power station. One of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, its designation stood for mobile, high power.-History:...
, in the Panama canal zone.
Powerships offer a number of advantages over other forms of power plants; due to their mobility, powerships can be connected to local power grids to temporarily cover demands whenever on site power plants are insufficient or the building of new power plants will take time, while dual-fuel engines on board can be powered by either liquid fuels or gas. The powership is able to use any infrastructure available at the site on which she is required.
Current usage
Newly built power ships are existing large bulk carriers, which are fitted with state-of-the-art, large-bore dual-fuel diesel engines that run on heavy fuel or natural gas to generate electricity, relevant transformerTransformer
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...
s and electric switchboard
Electric switchboard
An electric switchboard is a device that directs electricity from one source to another. It is an assembly of panels, each of which contains switches that allow electricity to be redirected. The U.S...
s.
It is expected that a powership will moor at one place for an average duration of three to five years. For this reason, powerships are an ideal solution to bridge the gap for a certain time until a local power plant is built or the high demand in electricity supply is over.
Karadeniz Powership Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Karadeniz Energy Group based in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, developed and carries out a project named "Power of Friendship" that aims to provide a total of 2,010 MW of electricity to more than ten shortage-stricken countries in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, northern Africa and southern Asia with ten different ships by the end of 2010. The first powership of the project, which can supply 144 MW power, went into service at the beginning of 2010 off the shore near Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
in south-eastern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and the second powership is on its to the same place. The company signed also a contract with Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Power barges
Power barges are in demand for their short construction cycles, flexibility in deployment, minimal land requirements and unique maritime financing. The capital costCapital cost
Capital costs are costs incurred on the purchase of land, buildings, construction and equipment to be used in the production of goods or the rendering of services, in other words, the total cost needed to bring a project to a commercially operable status. However, capital costs are not limited to...
s of constructing and operating power barges are very competitive with their land-based equivalents.
Construction and installation
Power barges are typically moored in protected harbors, and may be entirely self contained with step-up transformers or connected with land-based transformers that send electricity to domestic consumers. If the purchaser defaults, the manufacturer or intermediary can tow the barge(s) away and sell the plant to another customer. Floating power plants are usually constructed off-site at a shipyard, and then transported via dry tow to the end-use location.Vibration and thermal growth
Gas turbines and diesels generate substantial amounts of vibration both during start-up and operations. The gas turbine generator coupling is very sensitive to alignment and therefore, controlling deflection is paramount. Foundation designs seek to either isolate the deck barge and the power island raft or to combine the structures of the power island and deck barge to gain the same structural rigidity. The difference is that the integrated structural approach yields a direct path for vibration, while the isolated structural approach seeks the rigidity in an independent foundation and utilizes spring mounts or other mat type vibration dampening.The deck barge will tend to exhibit thermal growth during the diurnal cycles and possible out-of-trim conditions referred to as hogging and sagging caused by changes in ballast or fuel.
The power island design requires certain deflection limitations at the generator coupling and vibration dampening from start-up or out-of-phase operations, as well as significant trip loads mostly in the generator section. The power barge systems engineer must integrate power island engineering with naval architecture and marine engineering.
From New York City to Bangladesh
During the 1990s, power barges became a popular way of providing energy to developing nations, with companies including equipment suppliers like General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
, Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
, and MAN; by developers such as Smith Cogeneration, AES
AES
AES may refer to:Standards, systems, and methods* Application Environment Services, a component of Digital Research's GEM windowing system* The Advanced Encryption Standard...
, GMR Vasavi, US Generation, which operate floating power plants for customers located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(USA), Khulna
Khulna
Khulna is the third largest city in Bangladesh. It is located on the banks of the Rupsha and Bhairab rivers in Khulna District. It is the divisional headquarters of Khulna Division and a major industrial and commercial center. It has a seaport named Mongla on its outskirts, 38 km from Khulna...
(Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
), the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Effassu (Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
), as well as in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and Malaysia. Engineering, procurement and construction companies such as Karadeniz Energy, Power Barge Corporation, Waller Marine Inc, Hyundai
Hyundai
Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung...
, IHI Corporation and Mitsui
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
offer gas turbine power barge construction programs, and Karadeniz Energy, MAN and Wärtsilä offer medium speed engine power barges.
Today there are over 75 power barges deployed and operating around the world. The utilization rate of power barges is around 95% with only one or two power barges available in the global market at any one time.
New power barge projects range from RWE
RWE
RWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...
's recently announced foray into gas turbine peaker power barges to Karadeniz Energy's medium speed diesel engine power barge program for Iraq and Pakistan. Karadeniz Energy has delivered over 675 MW of power barges and power ships and builds the largest power barges/ships in the world.
In April 2011, Waller Marine finalized installation in Venezuela of two large floating power generation barges into a prepared basin at Tacoa. The two 171 MW barges, each supporting a GE 7FA dual fuel industrial gas turbine, will be connected to the grid and soon supply much needed power to Caracas.
As of July 4th 2011, Karadeniz Energy has over 400 MW of power barges/ship under construction with deliveries offered within 90 to 120 days from contract placement.
In use
- MV Karadeniz Powership Doğan BeyMV Karadeniz Powership Doğan BeyThe MV Karadeniz Powership Doğan Bey is a Liberia-flagged powership, a floating power plant, owned and operated by the Istanbul based Turkish company Karadeniz Powership Co. Built 1983 by Mitsui Co...
(IMO Number: 8117031) (2010) 144 MW - MV Karadeniz Powership Rauf Bey (IMO Number: 7925522) (2010) 200 MW
- MV Karadeniz Powership Kaya Bey (IMO Number: 7925546) 260 MW
See also
- MH-1AMH-1Athumb|right|300pxMH-1A was a pressurized water reactor and the first floating nuclear power station. One of a series of reactors in the US Army Nuclear Power Program, its designation stood for mobile, high power.-History:...
, a floating power station constructed as part of the Army Nuclear Power ProgramArmy Nuclear Power ProgramThe Army Nuclear Power Program was a program of the United States Army to develop small pressurized water and boiling water nuclear power reactors to generate electrical and space-heating energy primarily at remote, relatively inaccessible sites. The ANPP had several notable accomplishments, but... - Russian floating nuclear power stationRussian floating nuclear power stationFloating nuclear power stations are vessels projected by Rosatom that present self-contained, low-capacity, floating nuclear power plants...